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When you own or manage a business, advertising and marketing play a key role in your bottom line. That’s why creating strategic, thoughtful copy for your radio ads is important to actually reaching your customers, reinforcing your brand and, most importantly, selling your services. If you’re writing the script for your business’s radio ad, you need to keep your customer at the forefront of your message.

Put Your Customer First

One mistake many businesses make when they are creating copy for a radio ad to promote a service is focusing the message on their company and their service. This can be tricky, because when you’re building a brand you want to talk about what you do and who you are. That said, you have limited time in a radio advertisement, and you need to spend that time solving a problem that your listener has. For instance, if you’re selling a carpet-cleaning service, don’t start your ad by telling your listeners everything you do well. Start the ad by identifying with your customer and their dirty carpets. If the holidays are coming, talk about how important it is to show a clean home to family and friends who are visiting. Your customers will identify with this better and be more apt to keep listening as you present your solution.

Avoid Technical Speech or Jargon

You’re probably an expert in your industry. That said, most of your customers probably aren’t. After all, that’s why they need your service. When you’re creating copy for a radio ad, avoid using industry jargon or language that is too technical. Listeners tend to tune out when a message requires a lot of focus to comprehend. Write your script exactly how you would speak – minus those technical terms that the layman won’t understand. If you’re selling a pest-control service, for example, talk about your environmentally safe pesticides, not the exact chemicals you’ll be using.

Repeat Important Information

While you have limited time in a radio advertisement, it’s important to emphasize your call to action. Your call to action is what you want your listeners to do when they hear your ad. For instance, if you want them to call to make an appointment, tell them to do so. If you want them to print a coupon online, give them the web address. Since this is the most important part of your ad, you need to emphasize it. Repeat phone numbers and web addresses at least twice so that listeners have a chance to take note. And if you’re currently running a special promotion, repeat the sale details a couple of times.

Keep it Simple

One pitfall many businesses run into when creating radio copy is trying to speak to more than one service. While you may offer a number of services that you’d like to tout, a radio advertisement may not be the place to do it. In such a short amount of time, cramming too much information into a script may leave your listener more confused than excited about your services. Stick to one central service and theme. For instance, if you’re a salon offering buy-one-get-one haircuts for families, keep your radio script about that particular promotion and service. While you also likely offering coloring and blowout services, you run the risk of diluting your primary message by cramming them in.

About the Author

Kristen Radford Price began writing in 2005 for her campus newspaper. She has served as a feature writer for the life-and-style section of the "Daily Herald," a contributor to "Utah Valley Weekly," an editor for a small publishing house and now as director of communications for an Internet company. Radford has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Brigham Young University.